History Film / Godzilla1998

* ALessonLearnedTooWell: At the beginning of the film, Audrey grouses that she has not gone any further in her career after becoming Charles Caiman's assistant and she won't become a reporter, to which her friends Animal and Lucy Pallozzi (primarily Lucy) tells her that NiceGuysFinishLast and she needs to be more aggressive when she sees an opportunity. Of course, that opportunity is Audrey noticing that Nick is part of the task force to get Godzilla, which leads to her impersonating being a reporter (by stealing Caiman's pass) and stealing classified information (the tidbits Nick tells her and a VHS tape recorded by French Intelligence) when Nick leaves her alone in his tent. She makes a report to air on TV, but to her surprise Caiman steals the credit, and this leads to Nick being kicked out of the operation [[IgnoredExpert and his theory of Godzilla laying eggs being completely ignored]]. A couple of scenes later, Audrey is in the Pallozzi's apartment, crying her eyes out [[WhatTheHellHero after Nick calls her out on what she did]] and Audrey and Animal are arguing [[NeverMyFault on who's to blame for this]].

* MeaningfulName: A "caiman" is a crocodile-like reptile. See {{Jerkass}} above. Roache (pronounced "Rowsh") is a sneaky guy who pops up where he's not wanted and engages in shady activities, befitting one military guy's calling him "Roach".

** Coincidentally, Sony has its American film subsidiary Creator/SonyPictures, which is the distributor of this film.

* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: Downplayed example. While still born from nuclear testing, this version of Godzilla was a regular, modern day iguana mutated by ''French'' testing in the mid 90s, rather than a prehistoric reptile that was further mutated in the 50s (by, presumably, American testing).

The film spawned an animated sequel called ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries''. While it was intended to spawn a new franchise in the United States, the movie was not deemed successful enough to warrant another sequel. Ironically, it instead renewed Creator/{{Toho}}'s interest in the franchise, which had actually ended with ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' in anticipation of the American franchise, launching the Millennium series started by ''Film/Godzilla2000''. The events of another Millennium movie, ''Film/GodzillaMothraKingGhidorahGiantMonstersAllOutAttack'', actually reference this one, which would make this film a StealthSequel to the 1954 original in that regard, since ''G.M.K.'' is also direct sequel to that movie. The film's version of Godzilla was later renamed "Zilla" by Toho and pitted against the Japanese Godzilla in ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'', in which Godzilla [[CurbStompBattle destroyed]] his American counterpart in ''thirteen seconds'' without breaking a sweat.

The film follows the attacks of the titular creature on Manhattan, following his apparent creation via radioactive fallout from atomic bomb testing decades before. The film follows the attacks, beginning with the off-shore attack of a Japanese fishing vessel and culminating in a confrontation of Godzilla and the American military in the Big Apple. As all this is happening, an American scientist, his IntrepidReporter love interest and their friends team up with French secret agents to examine the creature's behavior more closely and find a way to keep it from bringing even greater disaster upon mankind.

* HateSink: The titular monster is, as with other examples, a creature that lives by its nature with no concept of good or evil, so there's both the conniving and misogynistic news anchor Charles Caiman, who among other things steals Audrey's story, and the video she took from Nick, and the meddlesome Mayor Ebert, who keeps jerkishly complaining about everything the military does ,although he ''[[JerkassHasAPoint is]]'' kind of right to be angry [[DestructiveSavior when said military wrecks half of downtown Manhattan on their first confrontation with Godzilla, including blowing both the Chrysler and Flaitiron buildings sky-high]], and is focused on his re-election to the point he thinks on his last scene about using Godzilla's death as a publicity booster.

** The movie's advertising campaign had a quick shot at ''Film/JurassicPark1993'', with a major shot of Godzilla's foot going through the ceiling of a museum and stomping a T-Rex statue flat, conveying how much bigger Godzilla is than the prehistoric monster.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* BadVibrations: Whenever Godzilla approaches for the first half of the film.

%%* FreeWheel: Used a ''lot''.

* InNameOnly: Godzilla in this movie bears little resemblance to his Japanese namesake. Rather than the {{camp}} that is most associated with the series, the script is mostly a DisasterMovie with a bit of action, and the monster movie aspects that remain bear more of a resemblance to ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms'' than ''Godzilla''.

* MayorPain: Mayor Ebert is the "incompetent" flavor.

* PlaceWorseThanDeath: As millions of Manhattanites flee to Long Island and New Jersey after Godzilla's first appearance, Caiman makes a throwaway snark about how they seemingly expect refuge in ''those'' locations.

* SequelHook: The film ends with the last of Godzilla's eggs hatching. It didn't get a sequel, but continued in the animated series.

* SoleSurvivor: Only one of the Japanese fishermen survive Godzilla's attack on their trawling ship at the beginning of the film, although based on the way the Geiger counter crackles as one of the French secret agents waves it over him, not for much longer.

* TrulySingleParent: In this movie, Godzilla is parthenogenic, like some species of reptiles.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: New York doesn't really look like that. Most glaringly, one of the people in the cab says the Brooklyn Bridge is the closest suspension bridge to the Park Avenue Tunnel. The tunnel runs from 33rd Street to 40th Street, and literally every other suspension bridge over the East River is closer.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: Leaving aside the fact that Sidewinders aren't possible to mount on an Apache, the warheads on Sidewinders are ''tiny'' compared to, say, tank shells. They contain only a couple of pounds of explosive, and wouldn't cause MonumentalDamage to any building they hit; they would in no way would cause the top of the Chrysler Building to be chopped off, and probably wouldn't hurt Godzilla either. Anti-tank missiles like the Hellfire would be more practical; Sidewinders are designed for small, fast-moving aircraft.

** During Godzilla's first helicopter chase, he is shown running at a speed in excess of 80 knots and is able to outpace the pursuing Apaches. 80 knots is about 92 mph, which should be nothing for the Apache; it's forward cruise speed limit is 182 mph or 158 knots. Possibly justified as the helicopters were flying in close urban quarters and wanted to limit their speed.

** It should be noted however, that despite the above issues, the film-makers did assign the right naming conventions to the correct hull types. The Anchorage is a Los Angeles Class Fast attack Sub, while the Utah, and Indiana, are both Ohio Class Ballistic Missile Subs. An interesting example of ShownTheirWork.

* FromBadToWorse: For the crew of the USS Anchorage, certainly. Godzilla swims straight at them, using his dorsal spines to rip open the sub's hull, simultaneously crippling and leaving the sub sinking in the middle of the Hudson River. Seconds later, the torpedoes the sub fired at Godzilla smash into its side, destroying it and killing everyone aboard.

* MassOhCrap: Everyone in the military command centre as they watch the crippled USS. Anchorage about to be destroyed [[HoistByHisOwnPetard by the torpedoes the US. Navy fired]] at Godzilla.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Mayor was right, the army really did cause more damage than Godzilla did.
** Also Audrey got Nick fired and caused the military to dismiss his theory about Godzilla being pregnant.

* OhCrap: Nick initially thinks that Godzilla laid a small number of eggs. Someone then switches on Madison Square Garden's lights, and shit gets real quick...
--> '''Phillipe''': [[ExplosiveBreeder (as the rows upon rows of eggs are revealed)]] [[DeadpanSnarker Start counting.]]

-->'''Nick''': (in obvious [[BringMyBrownPants pants-crapping terror]]) He looks angry...
** During the Hudson River battle, the crew of the submarine USS Anchorage experience this when they realise Godzilla is swimming straight at them with the torpedoes ''they'' fired at him close behind.
-->'''USS. Anchorage crewman''': Sir! The target's coming right at us!

* RammingAlwaysWorks: Godzilla smashes into a US. Navy submarine, slicing open his hull with its spines, crippling it.

* {{Understatement}}: "Negative impact" indeed; It's only the freaking ''Chrysler Building''.

* WhamShot: When Nick, Philippe, Audrey and Animal are trying to make it out Madison Square Garden they get to the lobby only to see it crowded with Baby 'Zillas.

* WontGetFooledAgain: The military is able to lure Godzilla out of the subways using a giant pile of fish as bait. They mess it up by placing the bait in a confined area, and Godzilla is able to escape through the winding city streets. They try the same trick again, but place the bait in the middle of Central Park where there will be no cover for Godzilla to hide behind. However, he's not stupid enough to fall for the same thing a second time.

** Sergeant O'Neal being in charge of all the field operations against Godzilla and only directly answering to Colonel Hicks, ignoring a very large chain of command and putting a ridiclous amount of responsibility on a mere sergeant commanding thousands of troops, tanks and vehicles, not to mention the fact that multiple branches of the military are involved (Army, Navy, Marines and National Guard as well) which would have their own command structures and field officers.

** Even more glaring is the first helicopter chase; Manhattan doesn't have extremely high, Coruscant-style corridors of skyscrapers taller than Godzilla that stretch for blocks and blocks.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Dr. Niko Tatopoulos, [[{{Tuckerization}} who was named for]] Creator/PatrickTatopoulos, who worked on special effects for the film and [[TruthInTelevision has the same problem]].

** The movie had a quick shot at ''Film/JurassicPark1993'', with a major shot of Godzilla's foot going through the ceiling of a museum and stomping a T-Rex statue flat, conveying how much bigger Godzilla is than the prehistoric monster.

The film spawned an animated sequel called ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries''. While it was intended to spawn a new franchise in the United States, the movie was not deemed successful enough to warrant another sequel. Ironically, it instead renewed Creator/{{Toho}}'s interest in the franchise, which had actually ended with ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' in anticipation of the American franchise, launching the Millennium series started by ''Film/Godzilla2000''. The events of another Millennium movie, ''Film/GodzillaMothraKingGhidorahGiantMonstersAllOutAttack'', actually reference this one as being canon... Which curiously makes this film a StealthSequel to the 1954 original in that regard, since ''G.M.K.'' is also direct sequel to that movie. The film's version of Godzilla was later renamed "Zilla" by Toho and pitted against the Japanese Godzilla in ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'', in which Godzilla [[CurbStompBattle destroyed]] his American counterpart in ''thirteen seconds'' without breaking a sweat.

* MerchandiseDriven: All the tie-in merchandise was designed and ready for assembly before a scriptwriter was hired.

* ToxicFriendInfluence: Audrey's friend Lucy tells her she's too "nice" and that she needs to be more aggressive in order to get what she wants. Unfortunately, Audrey takes this advice in the worst possible way and steals classified data from Nick to try and further her career (which fails when her slimy boss takes the credit), resulting in Nick getting kicked off the operation for the resulting information leak.

* TruthInTelevision: Some lizards (most notably the Komodo dragon) actually ''are'' capable of asexual reproduction via a process called parthenogenesis.

* TheReveal: While apologizing to Nick for leaking the story, Audrey confessed that the reason she broke up with him when he proposed a few years ago was because of her job. She was so sure she'd become a full-fledged reporter sooner that she didn't want to settle down. But of course, she got stuck as Caiman's assistant and was too ashamed to come back to Nick as a failure.

** Don't forget about people constantly getting Nick's surname wrong. Even Caiman does this after Audrey leaks his tapes to the news. Only Audrey and Colonel Hicks manage to say it correctly.

* SlaveToPR: Major Ebert's primary motivation during the film is getting reelected, moaning and groaning constantly about how Godzilla's attack and the military's presence [[SkewedPriorities might negatively affect his image]]. When he's confronted by a contingent of New York business owners who want to know his plans during this event, he's quick to brush them off, until he's told by his adviser Gene that they're his campaign sponsors.

** The F-18s that blow up Madison Square Garden overtaken by Baby Godzillas. They also manage to kill Godzilla with 12 missiles.

* IgnoredExpert: Zigzagged example. Nick discovers through blood testing that Godzilla is pregnant and has arrived in Manhattan to reproduce. He's believed up until his confidential data is leaked (by his girlfriend, Audrey), and then his idea is discredited... for some reason. Elsie does convince Colonel Hicks to sweep the city just in case, but by then it's too late: the eggs are real and they're already hatching. If it weren't for Nick and the DGSE already having discovered the nest, this would have turned into an apocalyptically stupid blunder.

** Don't forget about people constantly getting Nick's surname wrong. Even Caiman does this after Audrey leaks his tapes to the news. Only Audrey and Corporal Hicks say it correctly.

** Don't forget about people constantly getting Nick's surname wrong. Even a news reporter does this after Audrey leaks his tapes to the news.

* GonnaNeedMoreX: "We need bigger guns."